So, I gave Sis. Campbell (one of the Office Senior Couples) your email address so she can send you her blog. You should look on it. She says she's put pics and such about Sis. Homer and I on it. We both love Elder and Sister Campbell! They are amazing!!
Also, I am awful at finances w/o my laptop! Is it possible to have my bank statement mailed to my apt here in Florida? One: I can know how much I have, and two: I'll be able to get a library card! Libraries in Florida are picky! Oh, and I hope I haven't overdrawn! I had to use my debit card to rent a car last week. I had no idea how much was on it, but it seemed to have gone through ... Sorry I'm so poor right now :-(
Oh, have you been following Sis. L's blog? I think it's on the mission blog site? I don't know. But the members have been keeping us updated about sickness in the MTC. Poor Sister! I thought you'd enjoy following a few more blogs :-D
Also, I forgot to tell you two weeks ago, but Pres. and Sis. Darrington will be speaking in a fireside in Pleasant Grove Utah on Sunday, the 11th of July. It's at 1541 N. 1300 W. at 6pm. They are also speaking in Idaho and Washington. Tomorrow, they will be flying home to Washington. Today, is when Pres. and Sis. Hall are arriving in the mission home.
Well, this week has been a lot of fun! We put our car into the dealership for fixing (it's the "Lemon" of the Fleet, so we had many interesting issues! It had nothing to do with the accident.) The dealership wanted it for a few days, so they gave us a rental to drive til it was completed. From Tuesday to Today, we were driving a Black 2010 Chevy HHR. We named her Olive :-D (The licence plate is OLR and it felt weird to call the car Oliver when that's an old investigator's name. Plus, she looks like an Olive) So, we are enjoying our rental car and using the miles while we can. But it will be nice to have Kax back (our 2008 Chevy Malibu, licence plate KAX). As you can see, when we are stuck driving everywhere, we find things to do in our car. First, we memorized all the symbols for the car makes. We can quickly call out the makes of most, if not all cars. With that complete, we now name all the cars that pass us by. It's starting to get tiring, so it's time for a new car game. This week, we've been driving everywhere! We decide to work in one area and then we get a call that we have a great potential on the opposite side of where we work. We're still under our allotted milage, but this past week is the most we have ever driven this month! But we've made a lot of contacts and are better organizing our area. All is going well!
Well, we are keeping busy here! The work continues forth! Everything isn't organized quite yet, but we are seeing the pieces coming together. It's really interesting to see the progress of the the Stakes. They are both very unique in their approach to the ASL program and in many ways, exactly opposite in how things are run. We are always busy trying to figure things out. Throwing in the meal calendars made it a bit difficult because of miles, but we're working with that too. Never a dull moment in the ASL Program!
Lots of Love! I've run out of ideas of what to say, so... 'til next week!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Weekly Email
Dear Fam,
I've decided to write to the family first, then write to President, just to make sure I don't jip you of any great weekly happenings. Sorry this email is so late in the day. Our schedule for today was changed because of our evening plans to work up north. So ...
RAIN: Let's say, it's definitely been an adventure to be caught in a rain storm every day this week. And, the seasoned missionaries aren't joking when they say it typically rains for an hour between 2:30 and 3:30 each afternoon. It's true! Unfortunately, we forget that when we plan bike trips, tracting, and P-day activities. It's almost like our luck in knowing I-4 has rush hour traffic, but we forget until we drive right into that rush hour traffic. Well our best adventure is having planned a bike/park contacting excursion for Sunday evening. We planned on biking about seven miles to nearby lake parks and when we left, it was already thundering (maybe lightning) in the distance. But we couldn't think of anything else to do that night, so off we went. We avoided the rain for two hours; but heading back home that evening, the storm was right over our apt. Therefore, we biked at least three miles in the pouring rain! We got great pictures to go with the after effect! We're trying to learn our lesson, but today, we decided to go to the Leu Botanical Gardens; and during our hour long leisure walk, viewing the flowers and such, we got hit with a "light" shower. We didn't mind it too much!
B-day: I had a good birthday. Thanks for the package! Today, I'm wearing the blouse and jacket. It looks cute! The morning started in St. Cloud at a member's jewelry shop so we could practice our language study with her. There, both of us got earrings (which I'm also wearing today). Also, the office senior couples called me to wish me a happy birthday! They are amazing! We are so close to the office couples! They're always looking out for us! The day before, the College Park Sisters took me to an amazing yogurt shop; and although I typically don't like yogurt, this place is amazing! Also, Sis. Homer kept telling everyone it was my birthday, so I had a lot of missionaries call to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. At our ASL class that night everyone learned how to sign the "Happy Birthday" song so they could sign it to me. It was fun.
This past Sunday, we were asked to make a meal calendar for both of our wards. We figured out two-three days we'd be in each area and passed them around. So, now we will be fed by members five times each week. Don't worry about us being fed! We're now taken care of!
The 17th of June was an amazing day for the ASL area! We were blessed with an outpouring of tender mercies! It was amazing! I think the Lord is trying to teach us a lesson about prayer! It started with our District Meeting being about planning, commitments, and follow-ups. It was a great lesson. Afterwards, we went to contact a recent headquarter's referral that the Elders in Poinciana ran into and she called the number less than an hour later! We were able to contact her - after a left sticky-note, a random, static, phone call, and a second return to the house. She was amazing! She could feel something was different about the Book of Mormon and wanted to share it with everyone. We were glad to give her a copy in English and ASL (her sister is Deaf). After that, we didn't know what to do for the day. We had made three different schedules because we didn't know which city we wanted to work in. So, we decided that before we did anything, we'd stop at a nearby park and pray to know what to do. Interesting enough, each time we do that, one of our amazing Deaf members always contacts us halfway through our prayers. It made us laugh! Then we called a recent convert, recent move-in to set up a time to meet her because we tried earlier in the week, and she wasn't home; so we sticky-noted her door. She told us that those sticky notes were exactly what she needed at that time. She has never felt so loved and wanted since she joined the church! We look forward to meeting with her this Wednesday! Then, we tried to contact a teenage investigator that is always come and go in contacting. We found him at home, and he invited us in (first time he's done that); and we had an amazing lesson! The spirit was so strong, and we could see him better understand the gospel! Also we committed him to come to church, and he came! What an amazing day!
We're debating to tell our families about this, but ... we got rear-ended on the freeway last Friday. It was stop-and-go traffic, and we had to come to a quick stop because a person cut us off. Unfortunately, the car behind us didn't notice that we had stopped and therefore decided to stop by slamming into the back of our car. And that lead to the car behind her to slam into her. It was a great adventure for neither of us had ever been in an accident, especially in the middle of the freeway! Grrr... But, we exchanged info - the mission has a nifty "what to do if you're in an accident" packet we filled out, and the only problem with our car was that the bumper popped loose. The next day, we figured out how to just pop it back on. Our car looks fine! So, no worries. We're good. The office knows. Sis. Darrington is making sure we have no injuries... yay for adventures! Unfortunately, we were heading to an appointment in Sanford with an awesome investigator. We didn't make it, and he had brought three of his friends to listen :-( It was so sad! We blame the Adversary for always keeping us from meeting him. This was the third failed attempt. Now, we're going to try to meet him at members' homes - not at the mall!
We also had a great experience of service from our members! A member in Oviedo was willing to drive with his family to a member in Altemonte Springs to pick up an old sleeper couch to deliver to our investigator (who owns no furniture) in Ocoee! It was amazing! We think it was a great experience for all the people involved. Also, our investigator wants to come to church again. Unfortunately, because it was Father's Day, she didn't come last week. But we're working with her!
And that's my week in a nutshell! All is well! 'Til next week! Take care! Loves! Bye!
I've decided to write to the family first, then write to President, just to make sure I don't jip you of any great weekly happenings. Sorry this email is so late in the day. Our schedule for today was changed because of our evening plans to work up north. So ...
RAIN: Let's say, it's definitely been an adventure to be caught in a rain storm every day this week. And, the seasoned missionaries aren't joking when they say it typically rains for an hour between 2:30 and 3:30 each afternoon. It's true! Unfortunately, we forget that when we plan bike trips, tracting, and P-day activities. It's almost like our luck in knowing I-4 has rush hour traffic, but we forget until we drive right into that rush hour traffic. Well our best adventure is having planned a bike/park contacting excursion for Sunday evening. We planned on biking about seven miles to nearby lake parks and when we left, it was already thundering (maybe lightning) in the distance. But we couldn't think of anything else to do that night, so off we went. We avoided the rain for two hours; but heading back home that evening, the storm was right over our apt. Therefore, we biked at least three miles in the pouring rain! We got great pictures to go with the after effect! We're trying to learn our lesson, but today, we decided to go to the Leu Botanical Gardens; and during our hour long leisure walk, viewing the flowers and such, we got hit with a "light" shower. We didn't mind it too much!
B-day: I had a good birthday. Thanks for the package! Today, I'm wearing the blouse and jacket. It looks cute! The morning started in St. Cloud at a member's jewelry shop so we could practice our language study with her. There, both of us got earrings (which I'm also wearing today). Also, the office senior couples called me to wish me a happy birthday! They are amazing! We are so close to the office couples! They're always looking out for us! The day before, the College Park Sisters took me to an amazing yogurt shop; and although I typically don't like yogurt, this place is amazing! Also, Sis. Homer kept telling everyone it was my birthday, so I had a lot of missionaries call to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. At our ASL class that night everyone learned how to sign the "Happy Birthday" song so they could sign it to me. It was fun.
This past Sunday, we were asked to make a meal calendar for both of our wards. We figured out two-three days we'd be in each area and passed them around. So, now we will be fed by members five times each week. Don't worry about us being fed! We're now taken care of!
The 17th of June was an amazing day for the ASL area! We were blessed with an outpouring of tender mercies! It was amazing! I think the Lord is trying to teach us a lesson about prayer! It started with our District Meeting being about planning, commitments, and follow-ups. It was a great lesson. Afterwards, we went to contact a recent headquarter's referral that the Elders in Poinciana ran into and she called the number less than an hour later! We were able to contact her - after a left sticky-note, a random, static, phone call, and a second return to the house. She was amazing! She could feel something was different about the Book of Mormon and wanted to share it with everyone. We were glad to give her a copy in English and ASL (her sister is Deaf). After that, we didn't know what to do for the day. We had made three different schedules because we didn't know which city we wanted to work in. So, we decided that before we did anything, we'd stop at a nearby park and pray to know what to do. Interesting enough, each time we do that, one of our amazing Deaf members always contacts us halfway through our prayers. It made us laugh! Then we called a recent convert, recent move-in to set up a time to meet her because we tried earlier in the week, and she wasn't home; so we sticky-noted her door. She told us that those sticky notes were exactly what she needed at that time. She has never felt so loved and wanted since she joined the church! We look forward to meeting with her this Wednesday! Then, we tried to contact a teenage investigator that is always come and go in contacting. We found him at home, and he invited us in (first time he's done that); and we had an amazing lesson! The spirit was so strong, and we could see him better understand the gospel! Also we committed him to come to church, and he came! What an amazing day!
We're debating to tell our families about this, but ... we got rear-ended on the freeway last Friday. It was stop-and-go traffic, and we had to come to a quick stop because a person cut us off. Unfortunately, the car behind us didn't notice that we had stopped and therefore decided to stop by slamming into the back of our car. And that lead to the car behind her to slam into her. It was a great adventure for neither of us had ever been in an accident, especially in the middle of the freeway! Grrr... But, we exchanged info - the mission has a nifty "what to do if you're in an accident" packet we filled out, and the only problem with our car was that the bumper popped loose. The next day, we figured out how to just pop it back on. Our car looks fine! So, no worries. We're good. The office knows. Sis. Darrington is making sure we have no injuries... yay for adventures! Unfortunately, we were heading to an appointment in Sanford with an awesome investigator. We didn't make it, and he had brought three of his friends to listen :-( It was so sad! We blame the Adversary for always keeping us from meeting him. This was the third failed attempt. Now, we're going to try to meet him at members' homes - not at the mall!
We also had a great experience of service from our members! A member in Oviedo was willing to drive with his family to a member in Altemonte Springs to pick up an old sleeper couch to deliver to our investigator (who owns no furniture) in Ocoee! It was amazing! We think it was a great experience for all the people involved. Also, our investigator wants to come to church again. Unfortunately, because it was Father's Day, she didn't come last week. But we're working with her!
And that's my week in a nutshell! All is well! 'Til next week! Take care! Loves! Bye!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Ummm . . .
I ran out of time ... sorry ...
On hump day [June 9th], I went through my outline from my setting apart and after each line I would write a small comment of how I've seen that blessing in my mission so far. It was a great activity - and it was the first page in my new journal! That's right! My first mission journal was exactly nine months! I hope this journal will last my remaining nine months. That would be awesome! As soon as I get some pics prepared, I'll send home a package with my old journal included. . . .
I'll write a letter to you today to make up for this short email. Sorry!
Loves! Bye!
June 7, 2010
And so . . .
On a light note, you may be experiencing triple digit temperatures, but we are beginning to experience the usual Florida summer weather with a rainstorm or thunderstorm every day. It's been fun! We typically drive through it all, but once, we went tracting in the rain because Sis. Homer really wanted to. Thankfully, my rain jacket was in the car. Sis. Homer though didn't have any protection and was wearing white. Let's just say we looked like quite a site. But it was fun.
Thursday was Zone Conference so we received last week's mail on that day. I received yours and dad's, but didn't get Al's until Saturday. Thank you for the letters. . . .
And now, my time is done. So, next week.... loves, bye!
On hump day [June 9th], I went through my outline from my setting apart and after each line I would write a small comment of how I've seen that blessing in my mission so far. It was a great activity - and it was the first page in my new journal! That's right! My first mission journal was exactly nine months! I hope this journal will last my remaining nine months. That would be awesome! As soon as I get some pics prepared, I'll send home a package with my old journal included. . . .
I'll write a letter to you today to make up for this short email. Sorry!
Loves! Bye!
June 7, 2010
And so . . .
On a light note, you may be experiencing triple digit temperatures, but we are beginning to experience the usual Florida summer weather with a rainstorm or thunderstorm every day. It's been fun! We typically drive through it all, but once, we went tracting in the rain because Sis. Homer really wanted to. Thankfully, my rain jacket was in the car. Sis. Homer though didn't have any protection and was wearing white. Let's just say we looked like quite a site. But it was fun.
Thursday was Zone Conference so we received last week's mail on that day. I received yours and dad's, but didn't get Al's until Saturday. Thank you for the letters. . . .
And now, my time is done. So, next week.... loves, bye!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Onward!
ASL class officially started this week and it went great! Next week, we may have more people come because Bishop is encouraging all members, especially the priesthood brethren to learn the language. Right now, it's just Sis. Homer and I teaching, but we're trying to invite our members to help out so they can teach their own language to us.
We've been on bike a few times these past few weeks. So far, we just bike over downtown to visit the Library and Lynx Bus Station for contacting. It takes us an hour to bike downtown from our apartment, we spend about two or three hours there, then bike back. It's a fun morning activity! I survive biking there, but biking back always takes forever!
We also found a random street near our apartment that always has peacocks and peahens wandering around the front yards of those homes. Funny, huh! I love to random wildlife of Florida! We also run into a lot of Sandhill Cranes that aren't afraid of anything!
My new apartment address:
Sister Kris Ellsworth
4796 E Michigan St #9
Orlando, FL 32812
We've been on bike a few times these past few weeks. So far, we just bike over downtown to visit the Library and Lynx Bus Station for contacting. It takes us an hour to bike downtown from our apartment, we spend about two or three hours there, then bike back. It's a fun morning activity! I survive biking there, but biking back always takes forever!
We also found a random street near our apartment that always has peacocks and peahens wandering around the front yards of those homes. Funny, huh! I love to random wildlife of Florida! We also run into a lot of Sandhill Cranes that aren't afraid of anything!
My new apartment address:
Sister Kris Ellsworth
4796 E Michigan St #9
Orlando, FL 32812
Monday, May 24, 2010
Activities and Miracles
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm ... my mind just went blank ... which seems to happen every time I start a new email to the family. Therefore forgive me for having such short emails. One of these days, I'll remember to make a sticky note of things to write home to my family.
This last week, the biggest event was the "Savior of the World" performance that the Orlando South Stake put on these last two weekends. It was at the Windermere Chapel, right across the street from the Orlando Temple. Sis. Homer and I had volunteered to interpret for anyone interested, hoping to have a good turnout of people. We had a total of three members attend, plus some interpreters and their families. Friday and Saturday we were able to interpret the full two and a half hour long performance. What I find funny was that I first thought "Savior of the World" was a short musical presentation, not an actual theatrical event. I knew the conference center did a huge "Savior of the World" performance but the Orlando South Stake Center is a normal size chapel, not capable of performances - or so I thought. They turned the cultural hall into a theatre, and it looked really nice! I wish we had taken pictures! So, we learned the day before we were planned to interpret that it wasn't only music, but it had a full script with multiple characters interacting with each other. Sis. Homer and I had fun team interpreting to each other, changing roles, and trying to clearly present this production to our members. It was so much fun! The best part was signing in unison with the choir numbers. We'd try to feed off each other to sign the same way at the same time. I'm not sure how much the members really understood, but they felt the spirit nonetheless, and that's the most important part!
This last Saturday, we had an amazing experience at the Hunter's Creek Ward Picnic! At least ten of our members and investigators who are Deaf were able to attend, and we all sat together talking and joking around. We had the picnic at Moss Park, which is a great place for parties, reunions, activities, everything - especially because it's right in between two huge lakes. Near the end of the picnic, Bishop brought out squirt guns for everyone, and a water war started between the members. And of course with coolers full of ice water sitting around and everyone having a water bottle and squirt guns, many people got soaked! It was so much fun! Our members want to do that more often to help gather their friends together and come to activities.
Also, we are starting our ASL classes in Hunter's Creek. We will officially begin this week, but last week, a family with four little girls came to learn from us; so we taught them how to pray in sign language. We look forward to seeing how many people come to learn and see what will grow with our ward becoming even more unified in language, culture, and spirit. This work is going great! We truly love it! We are excited to see what new miracles the Lord will show to us this next week.
My emailing time has come to a close, so lots of love from Orlando 'til next time!
This last week, the biggest event was the "Savior of the World" performance that the Orlando South Stake put on these last two weekends. It was at the Windermere Chapel, right across the street from the Orlando Temple. Sis. Homer and I had volunteered to interpret for anyone interested, hoping to have a good turnout of people. We had a total of three members attend, plus some interpreters and their families. Friday and Saturday we were able to interpret the full two and a half hour long performance. What I find funny was that I first thought "Savior of the World" was a short musical presentation, not an actual theatrical event. I knew the conference center did a huge "Savior of the World" performance but the Orlando South Stake Center is a normal size chapel, not capable of performances - or so I thought. They turned the cultural hall into a theatre, and it looked really nice! I wish we had taken pictures! So, we learned the day before we were planned to interpret that it wasn't only music, but it had a full script with multiple characters interacting with each other. Sis. Homer and I had fun team interpreting to each other, changing roles, and trying to clearly present this production to our members. It was so much fun! The best part was signing in unison with the choir numbers. We'd try to feed off each other to sign the same way at the same time. I'm not sure how much the members really understood, but they felt the spirit nonetheless, and that's the most important part!
This last Saturday, we had an amazing experience at the Hunter's Creek Ward Picnic! At least ten of our members and investigators who are Deaf were able to attend, and we all sat together talking and joking around. We had the picnic at Moss Park, which is a great place for parties, reunions, activities, everything - especially because it's right in between two huge lakes. Near the end of the picnic, Bishop brought out squirt guns for everyone, and a water war started between the members. And of course with coolers full of ice water sitting around and everyone having a water bottle and squirt guns, many people got soaked! It was so much fun! Our members want to do that more often to help gather their friends together and come to activities.
Also, we are starting our ASL classes in Hunter's Creek. We will officially begin this week, but last week, a family with four little girls came to learn from us; so we taught them how to pray in sign language. We look forward to seeing how many people come to learn and see what will grow with our ward becoming even more unified in language, culture, and spirit. This work is going great! We truly love it! We are excited to see what new miracles the Lord will show to us this next week.
My emailing time has come to a close, so lots of love from Orlando 'til next time!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Ever Onward
We had a great week last week! I'll probably be sending another package with pictures because of the fun we've had this week! First, we had temple service on Tuesday. The temple has been closed for cleaning so we went to help with anything needed. Sis. Homer, myself, and a few Elders went to the Temple President's home to dig a trench to prep for the rainy season this year. It was a lot of fun! That same day, we were able to serve our members by washing two cars - since coming on my mission, I've noticed that I do enjoy washing cars.
We have several investigators who are progressing in the gospel and it is amazing. There is no better feeling than to have an investigator tell us that they are trying to practice their prayers every day. One of our investigators we had given the BoM Stories DVD - because we haven't received the ASL BoM shipment yet. She said she hadn't read much of it, but then she continued forth describing five different BoM stories that are spread throughout the book. It was amazing!
One fun finding idea we tried this week was to go with the Windermere Sisters and to take sidewalk chalk and write "Questions of the Souls" on main sidewalks. It was a lot of fun. I don't know if anything came from it, but by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. And we are trying to figure out other ways to finding people besides tracting.
Saturday, we had a Ward YM/YW Fundraising activity where they put on a Luau and cake auction. Because we have many Polynesian members in our ward, it was a true Luau. They had cooked three pigs in a pit (buried in the ground, wrapped in banana leaves, cardboard, and blankets) and even had a Polynesian dance group from Sea World come perform for us. It was a lot of fun! Sadly, none of the Deaf members attended. This next week we have a Ward Picnic and we hope that will be a great turnout for our investigators and members.
All is well here in Orlando. We're teaching amazing people! We've had our emergency preparedness training for the summertime! We're learning how to drink three bottles of water a day! It's going great! Ever onward!
We have several investigators who are progressing in the gospel and it is amazing. There is no better feeling than to have an investigator tell us that they are trying to practice their prayers every day. One of our investigators we had given the BoM Stories DVD - because we haven't received the ASL BoM shipment yet. She said she hadn't read much of it, but then she continued forth describing five different BoM stories that are spread throughout the book. It was amazing!
One fun finding idea we tried this week was to go with the Windermere Sisters and to take sidewalk chalk and write "Questions of the Souls" on main sidewalks. It was a lot of fun. I don't know if anything came from it, but by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. And we are trying to figure out other ways to finding people besides tracting.
Saturday, we had a Ward YM/YW Fundraising activity where they put on a Luau and cake auction. Because we have many Polynesian members in our ward, it was a true Luau. They had cooked three pigs in a pit (buried in the ground, wrapped in banana leaves, cardboard, and blankets) and even had a Polynesian dance group from Sea World come perform for us. It was a lot of fun! Sadly, none of the Deaf members attended. This next week we have a Ward Picnic and we hope that will be a great turnout for our investigators and members.
All is well here in Orlando. We're teaching amazing people! We've had our emergency preparedness training for the summertime! We're learning how to drink three bottles of water a day! It's going great! Ever onward!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Another Week of Missionary Work
I forgot to mention that yesterday was my eight month mark! I just thought it was funny to be able to call home on Mother's Day on my eight month birthday :-D
All is well here in Orlando! Last P-Day, we went to Downtown Disney to see the sights and take some pics of us (S. Akin, S. Clanton, S. Homer, and I) being silly. I also chopped off all my hair to prepare for the heat and humidity of Florida summers. I keep forgetting that I cut my hair ... but while emailing the missionaries keep walking in, noticing me, and making comments because it's so different! I'll sends pics soon of my before, mid, and after (I got my hair cut twice - one of the Sisters didn't like the original cut and decided to fix it up - cutting it even shorter)!
This week was a lot of driving trying to contact our referrals, and every once in a while the Lord gave us a miracle. We met an amazing young man who is seeking for truth but doesn't think God would answer his prayers. We spent the first lesson teaching him about the spirit and how God answers prayers every day. We look forwards to teaching him more and helping him grow in his relationship with God and his understanding of the gospel.
We had a really interesting Sunday because we attended two wards and team interpreted both of them. In one of the wards, we were able to teach during the last hour to two brothers who have driven to Hunter's Creek from Daytona Beach for the last three weeks to attend church. They love to learn about the gospel so we were able to teach them the first lesson simply to them. Because of distance, we'll probably only be able to teach them once a week but we are greatly impressed with their strong spirit and willingness to travel so far to hear the words of God.
Another opportunity we had this week was to take a young woman with us on exchanges. It was her first time seeing Sister Missionaries and being able to come on exchanges. I'm surprised at how many people (even members) who don't know about Sister Missionaries. We went tracting for a few hours trying to search for some missionary referrals. We didn't have any luck, but we could see this young woman grow in her desire to share the gospel with her friends. Missionary work ... it's contagious!
I love you all! I love the work! It's amazing to see all the great experiences and tender mercies that come each day!
All is well here in Orlando! Last P-Day, we went to Downtown Disney to see the sights and take some pics of us (S. Akin, S. Clanton, S. Homer, and I) being silly. I also chopped off all my hair to prepare for the heat and humidity of Florida summers. I keep forgetting that I cut my hair ... but while emailing the missionaries keep walking in, noticing me, and making comments because it's so different! I'll sends pics soon of my before, mid, and after (I got my hair cut twice - one of the Sisters didn't like the original cut and decided to fix it up - cutting it even shorter)!
This week was a lot of driving trying to contact our referrals, and every once in a while the Lord gave us a miracle. We met an amazing young man who is seeking for truth but doesn't think God would answer his prayers. We spent the first lesson teaching him about the spirit and how God answers prayers every day. We look forwards to teaching him more and helping him grow in his relationship with God and his understanding of the gospel.
We had a really interesting Sunday because we attended two wards and team interpreted both of them. In one of the wards, we were able to teach during the last hour to two brothers who have driven to Hunter's Creek from Daytona Beach for the last three weeks to attend church. They love to learn about the gospel so we were able to teach them the first lesson simply to them. Because of distance, we'll probably only be able to teach them once a week but we are greatly impressed with their strong spirit and willingness to travel so far to hear the words of God.
Another opportunity we had this week was to take a young woman with us on exchanges. It was her first time seeing Sister Missionaries and being able to come on exchanges. I'm surprised at how many people (even members) who don't know about Sister Missionaries. We went tracting for a few hours trying to search for some missionary referrals. We didn't have any luck, but we could see this young woman grow in her desire to share the gospel with her friends. Missionary work ... it's contagious!
I love you all! I love the work! It's amazing to see all the great experiences and tender mercies that come each day!
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‘Make no small plans: They have no magic to stir man’s souls.’ This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together. There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, and members of the church of Christ, Methodists and Catholics who are honorable people, and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and love him. As they see their church veering off to the right or to the left of these basic teachings, they will begin to search for the truth. And as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we baptize hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands. In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be Temples plural in the Southern States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people. ~Spencer W Kimball (1974)
